In D.C. Protest, Federal Agents Demand Freedom For ATF Agent Charged with Murder

ATF Special Agent Will Clark goes on trial for murder on Oct. 25 for the 2008 shooting death of a...

ATF Special Agent Will Clark goes on trial for murder on Oct. 25 for the 2008 shooting death of a neighbor during an altercation outside his St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands condo complex. Clark shot Marcus Sukow after intervening in a dispute between Sukow and Sukow's girlfriend. While an ATF panel ruled that Clark had acted legally and appropriately, the local government opted to prosecute, pitting federal and local enforcement against each other on a tourist island wracked by gun violence.

(ATF)
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ATF Review Cleared Clark in Shooting

Witnesses say Sukow took a foot-long metal flashlight and struck Duncan's car. Duncan got out of her car and got into Clark's car after he agreed to give her a ride. Sukow then yelled at Duncan to get out of Clark's car, and Clark told Sukow to go inside.

Sukow then approached Clark's car with flashlight in hand, and either struck Clark's car with the flashlight or swung it at Sukow or both, according to witness accounts. Clark, who as an ATF agent is always on duty and always armed, shot Sukow and killed him.

After the local government decided to prosecute Clark, the ATF stopped sending agents to the U.S. Virgin Islands. A confidential 2009 letter obtained by the St. Thomas Source, a local newspaper, gave then-U.S. Attorney Paul Murphy's account of the "collateral damage" to law enforcement in the islands, and indicated that other federal agents who remain in the islands are not assisting the local police department.

"Given the current legal and factual positions taken by the Virgin Islands government, federal agents are not responding and will not respond," wrote Murphy in a May 13, 2009 letter to U.S.V.I. Attorney General Vincent Frazer.

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It was not until after Clark was charged in 2009 that a witness account emerged in which Sukow was charging at Clark and swinging his flashlight before he was shot. The witness who provided the account said she had given local police this account at the time of the incident, but the local police did not make it part of the official record.

The case has become a cause celebre for federal law enforcement agents. Advocates of Clark say he was operating under the federal Good Samaritan rule, which says officers may intervene when physical injury to someone is imminent.

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In July, the acting director of the ATF recorded a video message for ATF agents to update them on the Clark case. Kenneth Melson, who emphasized that an ATF shooting review panel had unanimously concluded Clark's actions were justified and legal, said he knew agents were troubled by Clark's case. "I have been monitoring all aspects this case to ensure that I am taking all possible actions to support Will,' said Melson. "Accordingly, all agents have been removed from the island until further notice while we make sure that our agents are never again subjected to the ordeal being faced by Will Clark."